Cognitive and Emotional Processing of Social Stimuli in Children and Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Overview
- Phase
- N/A
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Sponsor
- University of Tromso
- Enrollment
- 60
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- The eyeblink of the Startle reflex is measured.
- Last Updated
- 13 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Children and youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to react abnormally to social stimuli, especially to human faces. Children and youth with ASD show less interest in social stimuli, and may even avoid looking at or interact with such stimuli. It has been proposed that social stimuli elicit reactions like fear and stress in individuals with ASD, and this explains the lack of interest and avoidance. The present project investigates this hypothesis.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders
Exclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
The eyeblink of the Startle reflex is measured.
Time Frame: The startle reflex will be measured in relation to picture presentations during the experiment (e.g. day 1).
The startle reflex is potentiated when participants are influenced by negative emotions. Accordingly, startle will be measured in relation to picture presentation to gauge the emotional effect of the pictures. It is expected that the ASD group will show fear potentiated startle to pictures of human faces.